Tower of Strength
by greyspotterfiction
Summary: Hermione, Harry and Ron are growing apart from each other and Hermione feels alone. Can Charlie help her? And will they become more than friends? Hermione/Charlie pairing...after DH, no epilogue, Warnings are inside, Rating because of possible future content...Reviews are very much appreciated :)
1. First day

**I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!**

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**Hi guys! I wanted to write another Hermione/Charlie story so badly, that I decided I'll give it a try. Those of you, who already read some of my stories, know that I live in the Sirius/Fred/Remus and Tonks-NOT DEAD-UNIVERSE ^^ I don't know if that will ever change :) ah, and Ron and Hermione are just friends**

**Rating because of possible future content….**

**Hopefully enjoy and reviews are very much appreciated :D **

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**Chapter 1**

The entrance hall of the ministry was busy. People who worked there hurried into their respective departments, memos flew above their heads and the noise of different people, talking at the same time, was almost too much.

Twenty year old Hermione Granger, war heroine and brightest witch of her age had her first day of work today at the Department of Magical Creatures. It was a real surprise as a member of the ministry seeked her out at her graduation party at Hogwarts and made the offer. She didn't even had to go under a special training because of her perfect NEWT'S scores. She said yes in an instant, because it was always her wish to take a stand for those who have less rights than others.

Yes, she went back to Hogwarts after the war, without Harry, Ron and Ginny. Only Luna, Neville, Dean and Seamus came back to finish the year they never had the chance to finish. Harry and Ron decided they would accept the offer, Kingsley made them and Hermione herself, to become Auror's right away. Hermione, however, politely declined. She didn't want to fight anymore – she had enough fighting the last seven years. Ginny, on the other hand, got an offer from a quidditch team and she didn't even had to think about it. Mrs. Weasley wasn't keen about it, but accepted her daughter's wishes after many arguments. Harry and Ron didn't understand why Hermione wanted back to Hogwarts instead of becoming an Auror, but Hermione didn't want to hear any of it.

This resulted in Hermione, Ginny and the boys drifting slightly apart and Luna, Neville and her becoming closer and closer. Harry, Ron, Ginny and she would always be friends, but it just wasn't the same anymore. As she graduated she realized just how much had changed in the last year, but she couldn't blame any of them or herself. After seven years of torment, everybody wanted to move on, every single one of them had now their own lives, Harry with Ginny and Ron with Lavender. She was happy for them, but was sad that the bond they shared for the last seven years, simply wasn't there anymore.

She moved in with Sirius, who lived alone in Grimauld Place, because Harry preferred to live at the Burrow, where he could spend more time with Ginny. Hermione loved living with Sirius and they became really good friends. Remus, Tonks and Teddy, their son, visited often and they also developed a friendship, plus she simply adored Teddy.

Now, it was her first day of work and she was nervous? What if she wasn't good enough? What if she couldn't help the way she wanted to help? What if nobody likes me? She had to force herself to stop thinking about this and made her way to the Department. She knocked on the door of office 230, where she was expected and heard a faint 'Enter!". She didn't expect the people inside.

"Remus, Charlie?! Remus, why didn't you say anything? And Charlie, why are you here? Oh, sorry. I tend to ramble!" she finished, blushing. The two men just laughed.

"Sit down, Hermione. We will explain everything." Remus told her and she did as she was told.

"To your question, why I am here…I work here now. You know, I just want to be near my family again." Hermione nodded, Charlie smiled at her and continued "So I finally decided to pack my bags and search for something else and the ministry made a good offer, so here I am!" Charlie finished.

"And I didn't tell you anything, because I wanted to surprise you. I asked for you and Charlie for my team and Kingsley said it was more than welcome when the three of us work together. I hope you don't mind?!" He said.

"Of course not, Remus! Or do I have to call you Mr. Lupin now? Working with the two of you will be great!"

The two men laughed again and Remus answered "Good, I'm glad. No Hermione, of course not!"

Hermione turned to Charlie and asked "So, Charlie…How are you? I didn't see you in ages!"

"I'm great, Mione. Had a lot of work to do before I left Romania, but speaking of never seeing each other. I was at the Burrow last week for dinner and you weren't there and mum complained that you weren't there the whole summer. Why that?"

Hermione's face fell and she got teary-eyed. Both man noticed, but stopped themselves from saying anything. The young woman clearly needed a moment to compose herself and they were more than willing to give her that time. Hermione spent two weeks with Luna searching for her parents in Australia and just came back a week ago. She didn't tell anyone where she went exactly. Truth be told, she was really sad, that neither Harry nor Ron, who were the only ones, besides Luna, who knew that she erased her parent's memories, asked once about them, but that was just another proof of how their relationship changed. Luna and she had trouble to find them, but after a while, they found out what happened to them. They died. Got tortured by death eaters who found them, even though Hermione sent them away. They got tortured and murdered and Hermione blamed herself because she couldn't protect them.

Hermione suddenly realized that the two men were still in the room and watching her, so she shook her head slightly and put on a fake smile.

"Oh you know…the first half of the summer I was really busy with moving into Grimauld Place and all and I had a lot to take care of and settle in and then I was on vacation with Luna and we just got back last week, so yeah." she tried to reason.

Both, Remus and Charlie knew that she hid something, but didn't press the matter. They smiled at her and nodded.

"So, do you want to get started with work? We have an assignment…." Remus asked and Hermione looked excited and nodded eagerly. Charlie noticed this and grinned. She was clearly something else.


	2. Friendship

**Hi guys :)**

**Chapter 2 of my new story - I'm not really pleased with this chapter, but I post it anyways. I wanted to wait with the romantic storyline and I'll probably put in some Drama along the way...The friendship storyline happened really soon, I know, but do you know the feeling, when you meet someone and after only a short period of time, you have the feeling you can tell each other everything? Well, I wanted this kind of relationship for them first, before it all gets complicated^^ even though, I feel like I didn't really convey the sense of it...**

**Please review & I hope you enjoy it anyways...**

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**Chapter 2**

Hermione already worked two months at the Department of Magical Creatures and really enjoyed it. Remus, Charlie and she worked well together and Hermione especially enjoyed the time she spent with Charlie. He had such a calm presence and great personality, that it was nice being around him. He made her laugh, which she hadn't done since she found out about her parents. She liked it that she finally had a chance to get to know him better, because she never really had the opportunity to do so, because he lived so far away.

Today was a full moon, which meant that the two worked without Remus. They sat in silence, looking over some paperwork, until Hermione suddenly spoke up "Charlie, I was wondering…Do you have time tonight? Padfoot is with Remus and I always cook too much, so if you have time, you could come over for dinner."

Charlie looked at the brown-eyed witch at the other side of the office. She looked unsure, he noticed, but she didn't have to "I'd love to!" he answered her, grinning.

She smiled a huge beautiful smile "Great!" she said and continued working.

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Hermione stood in the big kitchen of Grimauld Place, preparing dinner, as the floo-network was activated. The tall red head stepped out of the fireplace and brushed the ashes off of his blue jeans and the fitting white button-down shirt he wore.

He looked up and grinned at her "Hi, Mione. You look really nice!" he said. She really did – the blue knee-length midnight-blue dress she wore hugged her just in the right places and her tamed curls flowed down her back. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, but blushed nonetheless.

"Thank you, Charlie. You don't look so bad yourself. You can make yourself comfortable, dinner is almost ready. Do you want something to drink? I have wine, butterbeer, firewhiskey, pumpkin juice…" she trailed off and laughed.

"A firewhiskey would be great!" she poured him a glass and handed it to him. He thanked her and took a sip.

Dinner was a silent affair, but both enjoyed the silence. He complimented her on the delicious meal she had prepared - steamed vegetables with roast potatoes and roast meat, he then told her that he was a terrible cook. After dinner, they sat on the big cozy couch in the living room, drank firewhiskey and talked.

"Do you miss Romania and the Dragons? I mean, isn't it boring looking through paperwork and all that when you worked with Dragon's?" Hermione asked.

"Sometimes I miss it, but I really enjoy working with you and Remus and I am in the same country as my family. Besides I'm not as young as the others at the reserve are, so sooner or later I had to leave the reserve anyways."

Hermione nodded and smiled. She was glad he wasn't unhappy to work at the ministry and being in England again.

"Can I ask you a question?" he suddenly asked.

"That was a question, Charlie!" she laughed as he pouted "But you can ask me another question!"

"I hope you won't get angry and you don't have to answer, okay?" she nodded, looking confused, so he continued "When I asked you why you weren't at the Burrow this summer, you looked really sad and deep in thought and I have the strong feeling you didn't tell the truth or at least not the whole truth, so my question is what the real reason is you aren't really at the Burrow anymore? I don't want to see you sad, maybe I can help you with anything?!"

She grimaced and sighed. She knew she could tell him, he wouldn't judge her. He really wanted to help her.

"It's complicated and silly. I feel silly, but I can't help it. I just have the feeling that I don't belong there anymore. Harry, Ron and me and even Ginny, we were so close and then I went back to Hogwarts after the war and all three of them began working and we just drifted apart, I got close with Luna, Neville, Sirius, Remus and Tonks and you could say that Lavender took my place. ARGH it sounds so silly! I am happy for them and I know that it's perfectly normal that everybody wants to move on after the war – Merlin, after that long of fighting against that snake, it is more than normal - but I kind of feel left out, please don't ever tell that anybody! Harry and Ron moved on by starting Auror training and concentrating on their relationships, this isn't what really hurts though. Harry and Ron know something about me and I hoped or expected that they would at least asked me about it – after seven years of being their friend, they couldn't even asked me one question! And well, I just thought it would be easier for me, when I just avoid the Burrow…" she finished and one single tear ran down her face, as she thought about her parents.

Suddenly, Charlie moved and hugged her "You can always talk to me, okay? Sometimes people are gits, when they try to forget something and move on. Sometimes they leave people along the way – I know that this won't cheer you up, but you have other people now that are here for you, like Luna, Neville, Sirius, Remus, Tonks…me…okay? Just talk to us!" he tried to console her.

Hermione moved back, so she could look at him "It's funny, he never really talked much and now we work two months in the same office and I just have the feeling we are friends for years. Does that make sense?"

"It does, I feel the same!" he answered and grinned. She grinned back, but suddenly frowned.

"I have to tell you something. Only Luna knows, but I want to tell you!" he nodded and waited until she began to speak "Before we went to search for the Horcruxes, I oblivated my parents. I let them forget that I ever existed, gave them new names and memories and they thought their biggest ambition is to move to Australia. Well, the war happened, Voldemort was dead, I went back to Hogwarts, but this summer, Luna and I went to Australia and searched for them. I wanted to give them their memories back, even though I knew, they would be furious. After a while we found out what happened. Death Eaters found them despite the fact that I oblivated them. They tortured them and killed them afterwards." she finished.

"You think that it's your fault, don't you?" the red-head asked. Hermione just shrugged. Charlie took her face into his hands and said "It isn't your fault, you tried to protect them! I am so, so sorry what happened to them, but it isn't your fault!" with that said, Hermione finally broke down. She never allowed herself to do that and it felt good, to finally let it out. Charlie just held her and let her cry, he knew that she needed it. After a while, the sobs died down, her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. Charlie gently lifted her up and laid her on the couch, he covered her with a blanket and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Mione. I'll always be there for you!" he whispered before he walked to the fireplace and flooed to his flat. He meant what he said, he would always be there for her. He didn't know, why he felt so strongly about the young witch, but his heart told him, to do everything he could to make her happy and be there for her.


	3. Luna goes crazy

**Hi guys.**

**First of all, I wanted to thank Dramione13 for the guest Review :D and the others who followed or favorited**

**This is Chapter 3 - it is rather Long compared to other chapters i wrote in this and other stories - I wanted to show you guys a VERY ANGRY and SARCASTIC Luna, who protects the ones she loves...**

**I hope you enjoy and I wish you all a Happy New Year :)**

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**Chapter 3**

Hermione had a wonderful dream about Charlie – _what? Wait, Charlie? Why would she dream about Charlie? Ah, well, of course. He is her friends, that's why._ She turned around, still half asleep, as something tickled on her nose, she scratched her nose and attempted to go back to sleep, until this time her cheek tickled. _What the bloody hell!_ She opened her eyes and saw Sirius with a huge grin on his face, Hermione frowned.

"Good morning, princess! Why are you sleeping on the couch?" he asked her.

_Wait, why did she sleep on the couch? Oh, she must have fell asleep after her break-down – how embarrassing, she had to apologize to Charlie soon…_

"Fell asleep…" she grumbled and stood up. The two walked into the kitchen, where Remus sat, looking like shit.

"Morning, Remus. Wait…I bought you something a few days ago."

"Morning, Hermione." he said weakly while she searched a kitchen cupboard for something, she found it – a chocolate bar – and handed it to him. He smiled and thanked her.

"And where is my chocolate bar?" Sirius questioned. Hermione ignored him, secretly grinning and he pouted. Hermione poured herself a coffee and sat down.

"Are Tonks and Teddy picking you up or are you meeting them at your house?" Hermione asked Remus after a while of silence.

"They are coming to Grimauld Place. Teddy wanted to see you, all he babbled the last two days was 'MIMI!'. Hermione smiled gently, she really loved the little boy.

"We are all invited to the Burrow for lunch, will you come with us this time, Mione?" Sirius questioned the young woman. Hermione rubbed her temples and groaned. How could she forget? It was Saturday, of course they would be invited to the Burrow.

"Hermione, what's wrong? You weren't there for almost four months. Did something happen?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing is wrong, I'll come today, okay?" Hermione told him.

"MIMI!" came the shout of Teddy, before Sirius could say anything. The toddler with currently blue hair, came running into the kitchen, with Tonks right behind him. The small boy ran to Hermione and hugged her legs. She lifted him up and said "My favorite little man is here! I missed you, Teddy!"

Teddy changed his blue hair into the similar honey-brown curls of Hermione and smiled a toothy smile.

"Hi, Tonks!" Hermione greeted the older witch finally. Tonks smiled and waved, she was always fascinated how Hermione accomplished to get her son to be perfectly still for a moment.

"So, who wants some breakfast?" Sirius asked.

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Noon came nearer and Hermione had to get ready for the Burrow. She was nervous, but she knew she had to go someday, so her mantra was "Take a deep breath and get to it!". She put her favorite, slightly worn-out pair of jeans and a dark red sweater on and braided her hair, she went without make-up. After that, she made her way back into the kitchen where Sirius, Tonks, Remus and Teddy waited for her.

"Well, let's go then!" she mumbled.

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"HERMIONE! OH MY DEAR HERMIONE!" Mrs. Weasley cried as she saw Hermione stepping out of the fireplace. "I missed you so much, how are you? Arthur missed you too, he had an emergency at work, so he isn't here today." she said and hugged her.

"I missed you too Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry, I wasn't here the last couple of months. I'm fine and you?"

"Please call me Molly, Hermione! Now, I'm great!" she looked up and saw Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Teddy and said "Oh hello, dears. Come on, sit down in the living room everyone until I call you. Lunch is almost ready."

They did as they were told and greeted the people already sitting there. She hugged Ron, Harry and Ginny briefly and politely greeted Lavender – she still didn't like her and she had the feeling it was mutual. She saw Luna and Neville and went to them after she was finished talking to Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"Hi guys. I didn't know you would be here!" she said while hugging them.

"Surprise!" they said grinning. Luna looked at Hermione and silently asked if she was okay. Hermione understood and nodded. Suddenly she felt a tab on her shoulder and turned around – it was Charlie.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked.

"Charlie, hi! I'm fine. You? I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, I didn't mean to…." she trailed off, turning red. He hugged her and whispered "I'm fine too and you don't have to be sorry. You needed it and I told you before, I'm here for you, so don't worry!"

Hermione smiled shyly at him and thanked him. In that moment Mrs. Weasley told them, that Lunch was ready and everyone moved to the table. Hermione sat between Charlie and Luna and began to eat.

"What was that with Charlie? Anything you want to tell me?" Luna whispered to her friend.

"Well, I told you, we work together now and we became really good friends. Yesterday we ate dinner together at Grimauld Place and I just broke down, told him about the situation between Harry, Ron, Ginny and me and about my parents. I was so embarrassed that I just broke down and so I apologized, but he told me that I didn't have to…" Hermione whispered back.

"He is right, you know?! You'll never have to apologize for something like that, for needing someone…" Hermione just nodded and continued eating.

"Hermione, did you meet someone? A nice boy for you..?" Mrs. Weasley asked and Hermione had to cough, before she could answer, Lavender began to laugh.

"Yeah right. The only thing Hermione has probably in her mind is work, how could she meet someone?" Lavender snorted. Nobody except Ron found it funny.

"Well, at least she doesn't call Ron Won-Won and talks to him as if he was a child!" Luna said sharply, nobody, except for Neville and Hermione ever heard the normally dreamy woman so serious "Isn't that right, Lav-Lav?!" Luna continued and pretending to speak to a baby. Lavender and Ron went beet red.

The twins began to chuckle and the others, except for Ron and Lavender had to suppress their laughter.

"Oh, Luna!" Fred began.

"You are our new…" George continued.

"Heroine!" they finished together. Luna winked at them and continued eating. Hermione squeezed her thigh and continued eating too.

"I think it is better not to date at the moment, Molly. I have a lot on my plate, right now. I just need to sort some things out before I start dating someone." Hermione answered Mrs. Weasley as she realized she didn't answer her yet.

"I told you so…!" Lavender almost sang. Luna had enough and banged her fist on the table.

"ENOUGH! Shut your trap, airhead or I'll swear to Merlin, I'll stuff it for you!"

"Don't talk to my girlfriend like that!" Ron shouted.

Luna began to laugh, which made Ron even angrier, but he underestimated Luna "Well, what about the way your girlfriend talks to your so called best friend? Oh wait a minute, you don't give a bloody damn about Hermione, anymore. Isn't that so, Ron, Harry, Ginny?"

"Luna, stop. Come on…!" Hermione and Neville tried to convince her and each put a hand on her shoulder.

"That isn't true!" the three who got accused said.

"So, when it isn't true, tell us, what's going on in her life since she went back to Hogwarts?" Charlie urged them.

"Come on guys, stop that! Can we please just continue eating the delicious lunch and stop fighting?" Hermione pleaded.

"Hermione, that is a great idea." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Luna and Charlie surprisingly said together.

"Just leave it!" Hermione mumbled. They continued with their meal, but that didn't last very long. The next question, Hermione didn't expect.

"Hermione, how are your parents? You could invite them over to the next Saturday-lunch!" Mrs. Weasley told her kindly. She had no idea, but Hermione's heart broke and she dropped the glass she was holding at the moment. Pumpkin juice ran all over the table.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry!" she apologized. Charlie waved his wand and the mess disappeared.

"I d-don't t-think they c-can c-c-come to lunch. They are very b-b-busy!" she stuttered.

"Yeah well, now we know where you got it from!" Lavender butted in again.

"Silencio!" Luna pointed her wand at her and silenced her "I told you to shut it!" she growled.

"Are you barmy? She just told the truth. Hermione is always busy!" Ron yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, Molly, but I don't feel well. I'll go home. It was nice to see you all again. Bye." Hermione apologized and flooed home.

Charlie stood up and followed her.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm sorry too, for acting the way I did today. I'll go too, but before I do that, I have to say something first." Luna told her.

She looked at Ron, Harry and Ginny and began "We all understand the wish to move on after the war – we all want to move on, but let's face it. You three forgot Hermione along the way. Maybe you don't see it, but it is what it is. You just left her alone. Hermione never left you, she stood by your side for seven years and you just throw her away, like she is the paper from yesterday. Harry, you especially should be ashamed of yourself – Hermione was the one who believed that you didn't put your name into the goblet in 4th year, unlike Ron. She was the one who didn't leave you while you were on the run, unlike Ron AND she was the one who erased her parent's memories off herself to go on the run with you. You two were the only ones who knew that she did that and you didn't even asked her after the war what she was going to do about her parents. No, of course you didn't, why should you? You know what happened? She and I went to Australia to reverse the memory spell from her parents. We had trouble finding them, but then we found out why it was so difficult. Hermione's parents ARE DEAD! You want to know how that happened? Death Eaters found them even though Hermione sent them away. They found them, tortured them, raped her mother and then killed them. But hey, you know exactly what's going on in Hermione's life and you are such great friends, congratulations! Also I just have to asked, when so many of the great Order are here. I would like to know, why exactly Harry's aunt, uncle and cousin, who tormented him so many years, were sent into hiding and got protection and Hermione's parent's got NOTHING? The parents of the most wanted muggle born wasn't that important, huh? But hey, don't blame yourself – Hermione blames herself for their deaths, so you are off the hook. So, I think I said everything I wanted to say. Oh and Lav-Lav? Mess with my best friend again and you'll realize what a loony Ravenclaw can do to your fake face! Lunch was delicious, Mrs. Weasley! Good bye!" and she left a dead silent room.


	4. Realization

**Hi guys...**

**WOW, thank you soooooo much for the feedback :DD About the length of my chapter - I'm really sorry if they are rather short, but I thought that ****_Tower of Strength _****has rather long chapters comparing to my other stories?!**

**Thank you again and here is Chapter 4 :)**

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**Chapter 4**

Hermione just knew it was a bad idea coming to the Burrow. She couldn't stay one minute longer, so she said goodbye and flooed home. As she arrived at home she sank down in one of the chairs in the kitchen and let out a deep shaky breath. Suddenly the floo network was activated again and a very concerned looking Charlie stepped through the fireplace.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" she asked confused.

"I was worried about you and I thought you needed someone to talk." He answered, sitting down beside her.

"I'm fine!" Charlie looked at her, like he didn't believe her "Well, maybe I'm not fine, but I'm okay. Your mum didn't know and Lavender…weill Lavender is just Lavender. She hates me and I don't like her either, so I didn't expect her to be nice and quiet, because she just isn't. Always was a nosy, annoying tart…sorry…and probably always will be. Oh and Luna really made it better, the way she talked to Lavender was just …amazing!"

"Yeah, that it was. Why does Lavender hate you?"

Hermione giggled "Oh, well…she has that idea that I could take Ron away from her or something like that. As if I wanted Ron, oh please…" she rolled her eyes and giggled again "That would just be wrong."

"Why that?"

"He is like a brother to me, or was like a brother to me. In 6th year I thought I had feelings for him, but I realized that I just imagined it, maybe because everyone thought we would end up together."

Charlie wanted to say something, but in that moment the floo network was acticated again and Luna stepped through it.

"Luna, is everything alright?" Hermione asked her friend, who looked angry.

"The better question is, are you okay?" Hermione nodded and looked at her questioningly "I came to warn you and apologize. I'm sorry, as you left, I lost my temper and I might have told them everything…." Luna looked really sorry.

"Oh Luna, that is okay. Someday the truth would have come out, you don't need to apologize. So, you lost your temper, huh?"

Luna sat down too and sighed "Yeah and I might have threatened Lavender again." Charlie and Hermione began to laugh and Luna chuckled.

As they calmed down, Charlie said "I think I'll go back to watch the show. Mione, are you sure, you're okay?"

"I'm sure, Charlie. Thank you for coming after me. See you on Monday at work!"

They said their goodbyes and he flooed back to the Burrow.

"So tell me, Luna…what did you say exactly to them? So I can prepare myself." so Luna told her everything.

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Charlie came back to the Burrow and everybody sat in silence with their mouths open.

"I see, Luna really lost her temper." Charlie observed out loud. That got Mrs. Weasley out of her shock.

"Is she okay?" she asked her second oldest son. Charlie just nodded.

"Why didn't she say anything?" Harry whispered.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but are you bloody kidding me? She was your best friend, who by the way told you that she oblivated her parents and you and Ron didn't even think once about asking her about them. So, tell me, what should she have done? Maybe she should have come to you and told you 'Oh hi, Harry. You know, my parents, the parents I have oblivated to go on the run with you, got tortured and killed. Can you please be here for me once in your life?'….Yeah, right!"

"I-I-I don't know what to say…" Harry chocked out.

"I figured as much. Ron, I think it's great to protect your girlfriend, but maybe you should try to defend your friend for once in a while, when your girlfriend is the one harassing her, instead of laughing with her. I really thought mum and dad taught you better than this…also Ginny and Harry, you maybe didn't laugh about it, but you could have said something instead of just keeping quiet. Oh and Lavender, I heard Luna told you something before she left. Just count me in on that, okay?" Charlie added. Ginny and Harry opened and closed their mouths without saying anything and Ron and Lavender just really got red-faced.

"I can't believe we didn't do anything for the Granger's. Why didn't we do something for the Granger's? Luna is right, it is our fault that they are dead." Tonks sobbed. Remus squeezed her hand but didn't say anything.

"I really don't know…I think we all have a lot to think about…!" Sirius said.

"It is horrible…" Fleur whispered. Audry nodded and Bill rubbed his face while sighing.

"No wonder, she doesn't want to come here anymore." Mrs. Weasley cried.

Neville cleared his throat and said to Harry, Ginny and Ron "Maybe you could start with apologizing? Hermione is a great person and is so caring and forgiving. She doesn't hate you, she is just hurt, you didn't write while she was at Hogwarts or didn't visit. She misses you all. She even defends you. She doesn't want to fight. So, try to fix this or you are just dumb! And Lavender, she doesn't want to steal Ron, she isn't in love with him. Stop being such a bitch – maybe people would actually like you then…" he turned his attention to Mrs. Weasley and added "Mrs. Weasley, the meal was great, thank you, but I'll better go now too. Bye!" and he left too.

"We have to talk to her!" Ginny said and Harry nodded. Ron stayed still, he was in deep thought for once in his life.

"Not today. Let her some space and talk to her tomorrow." Charlie said.


	5. Oh Merlin!

**Hey guys :)**

**I'm so sorry, I wanted to update sooner, but, for unknown reasons, I couldn't upload a thing :S**

**So, here is Chapter 5 and maybe I'll update today again, we'll see :) Thank you again for all the Support! Keep the Reviews coming - I LOVE them :))**

**Hopefully enjoy :)**

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**Chapter 5**

You could only hear the chirping of birds early in the morning, apart from that it was silent. Hermione lay awake in her bed and thought about the events that occurred yesterday. She was glad that she had such good friends as Luna, Neville and Charlie and she knew that sometimes it happens that people drift apart – friendships drift apart. And that happened with her, Harry, Ginny and Ron. It was okay – she finally accepted the fact that it happened and she let out a sigh of relief – it didn't hurt anymore.

Hermione got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. It was early so she thought she would be alone, but she thought wrong, in the kitchen were Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Charlie. She saw them and stopped dead in her tracks, she groaned and rubbed her temples.

"Hermione!" everyone exclaimed.

"Morning!" she grumbled, after she composed herself. She made herself a cup of coffee and sat around the table. She took a sip and looked at the people in the room, who were watching her.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" that was really out of character for Hermione, but she was still tired and she really didn't want to deal with them right now.

Suddenly Mrs. Weasley came running to her and embraced her "Oh my baby. I'm so, so sorry for everything. I would have never brought them up yesterday, if I had known. Why didn't you come to me, honey? You know, Arthur and I will always be there for you, we love you. Oh honey…!" she told her.

Hermione patted her back "You don't have to be sorry, Molly. I know all of that and I love you two, too, but I just didn't want to talk about it."

Mr. Weasley came over to them and hugged them both awkwardly, then he quietly told her "I know that we can't replace your parents, Hermione, but we just wanted you to know that you are like our own child…"

Hermione kissed them both on the cheek and thanked them. She turned her attention on the others in the room again and focused on Sirius, Remus and Tonks.

She sighed and said "I assume you are here because of what Luna told me, she said to you about my parents not getting protection. It isn't your fault, okay? I would never blame you for that, I could have asked you, but I thought I could handle it. Well, I thought wrong, but this isn't your fault, okay?"

"But it is our fault!"

"It isn't your fault either…."

"We are so sorry!" the three said simultaneously.

"It's okay…" Hermione said.

Then she focused on Ginny, Harry and Ron, who stood there awkwardly. They stared at each other and suddenly Ginny broke the silence "We are so sorry, Hermione. I know that this doesn't make anything better, but we are really sorry. Can you please consider forgiving us? We'll do anything, just please at least consider it!"

Before Hermione could say anything, Harry began to speak "Mione, I don't know what to say. You were there for me and I just did this to you, I-I-I don't even know how to make that up to you. I'm so sorry!"

"I'm sorry too. And I'm really sorry that I laughed about the things Lavender said yesterday. I was a git…" Ron added.

Hermione nodded and gave them I shy smile "I know you are sorry and I forgive you, but don't expect that our friendship will be like it used to be, too much happened. But we could try to see each other more often, so we can get used to each other again?!"

The three of them nodded eagerly and hugged her. She gave them one last smile before she turned to Charlie, who just stood there the whole time, saying nothing "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"Oh you wound me, Mione. Can a bloke not just visit a friend and colleague to say hello?" he grinned and Hermione rolled her eyes "I wanted to kidnap you!" he answered finally.

"Where to?"

"You'll see, just go get dressed…"

She said goodbye to Ginny, Harry, Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and hurried upstairs. She got dressed, brushed her teeth and hair and went back down.

"I'm ready. Bye Sirius, Remus, Tonks!" she said.

"Bye!" they called after them as they stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in the green flames.

* * *

They stepped out of the fireplace into a big bright living room. It had a few bookshelves on the white walls, in the middle of the room was a huge creme-white couch and a coffee table. It was simple, but it looked really cozy.

"Is this your flat?" Hermione asked Charlie, as she was finished looking around.

"Yeah!" Charlie said.

"And what are we doing here?" she asked carefully.

"I wanted to make you breakfast. You cooked dinner and it was delicious and I'm a terrible cook, so I can't prepare dinner for you, but I can make breakfast and I thought, because you had some rough couple of days, you need a good breakfast. So, here we are!" he replied almost bashfully. Hermione looked at him and suddenly hugged him.

"Thank you!" she whispered. He just hugged her a bit tighter, before letting her go.

"So, just sit down on the couch and relax. Meanwhile I'm going to prepare breakfast!"

* * *

The two friends sat around his dining table and enjoyed the breakfast Charlie made for them. They ate eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes and fruits. It was delicious. They talked and laughed and Hermione truly had a great time.

"That was great, thank you, Charlie." He just smiled at her. She looked at his ocean blue eyes and it suddenly hit her – the dreams she had about him, the connection she felt, when he was with her, the way he could calm her down – she, Hermione Granger, was falling for Charlie Weasley! _Oh Merlin!_


	6. Let the Drama begin

**...and the second update today :))**

**Throw two other people into the mix and the Drama begins ;D**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Luna? Are you home?" Hermione called her friend through the fireplace. She saw Luna entering her living room, wearing a rainbow-colored apron over her blue jeans and red t-shirt.

"Oh Hermione, your head looks funny!" she said, giggling.

"Oh really? Perhaps it is because my head is stuck in your fireplace? Can I come through? My knees are beginning to hurt."

"Of course!"

Hermione pulled her head out of the green flames and flooed to Luna's house. She cleaned herself off the dust and hugged Luna quickly. They walked to the kitchen, because Luna was cooking when Hermione called her and Hermione sat down. Luna meanwhile continued to cut vegetables. She preferred cooking the muggle way too, just like Hermione.

"So, what happened?" Luna asked after a while.

"How do you know, something happened?" Hermione questioned with a raised eyebrow. Luna turned around to look at her quickly before turning back to the carrot, she was cutting at the moment.

"I know you and something happened, so spit it out!"

So Hermione told her everything that happened today – starting with the visit she got this morning and ending with the discovery of her feelings for Charlie. Somewhere in the middle of her speech, Luna stopped cutting and sat down too.

"And you know, this isn't good. This isn't good at all! I don't know what to do. First of all, he is my friend – I can't just fall for him. Also I have no idea, how to handle my feelings, I mean I never really had feelings like that, as embarrassing as that is. I'm 20 and I didn't even had a real boyfriend yet…Oh Merlin….and he would never see me like that…"

"Merlin, Mione. Stop it! First, Neville and I are friends too and it works. Second, it isn't embarrassing to be inexperienced, if he has feelings for you, he won't mind. Which brings me to my last point. Why do you think he wouldn't see you like this? You are beautiful, clever, witty, loyal…what is there not to like?"

Hermione sighed "I just will take things as they come!"

"Good! Do you want to stay for lunch? I made plenty…" Luna asked.

"Yeah, I would like that…" Hermione grinned.

* * *

A few weeks passed and Hermione's "crush" just grew stronger and stronger. It got difficult, seeing Charlie every day at work and Hermione almost decided she would do something about her feelings until some day, Charlie told her about a woman he met and that he asked her out. Hermione's heart broke a little, but she acted as nothing was wrong. She congratulated him and wished him luck for the date.

The next few weeks, Hermione had to bear, constantly hearing about the girl who stole Charlie's heart and she put a good face on the matter, even though she wanted nothing more than just run away and never hear anything about her ever again. She was being childish and she knew it. It wasn't as she didn't know that Charlie didn't feel anything other than friendship for her, so she just had to suck it up.

* * *

It was Friday evening and she got ready for an evening at a new bar in Diagon Alley with Luna, Neville, Cho Chang, Dean, Seamus and Parvati as an owl tapped on her window. It was the Weasley owl, so she let her in.

"Hey gorgeous. What do you have for me?" she asked the owl who made some happy noises, as she stroked her head. Hermione took off the letter from her leg and gave the owl some water, who took a few sips and flew away again.

She opened the envelope and began to read…

_Dear Hermione,_

_I know that the last time you were at the Burrow, things went terribly wrong, but Arthur and I miss you very much and we wanted to ask you, if you will come to Friday dinner?_

_We invited Luna and Neville too…_

_We hope, we'll see you on Friday! Just think about it._

_Love, Molly_

Hermione decided to ask Luna and Neville if they'll go and make the decision then. On the one hand, she wanted to see Molly and Arthur – she missed them too. On the other hand, she really didn't want to see Lavender, but well, she tolerated her six years in school, she could bear 2 or 3 hours more.

* * *

The bar was crowded and the air was stuffy, but the music was really good, it alternated between muggle and wizard songs.

She looked through the crowed to find Luna, Neville or one of the others. She found them and walked over to where they stood.

"Hi guys!" she greeted them.

"Hermione!"

They hugged each other and ordered something to drink.

"Luna, are you and Nev going to the Burrow on Friday?" She quietly asked her best friend.

Luna nodded and grinned "I want to see Lavender's face!" Hermione laughed and shook her head.

"Okay, I'm coming too."

Before Luna could say anything, Dean came over to them and smiled at Hermione "Long time no see, Hermione. How are you?"

"I'm fine, Dean. And you? What are you doing now, jobwise I mean?!"

"I work at the ministry…Department of Magical Sports…I heard you work at the ministry too. We could eat together sometime on our lunch break…"

Hermione saw Luna grinning like mad beside her and inwardly rolled her eyes. She smiled at Dean and said "I would like that. So, do you like working there?" he nodded and began to tell her about the things he especially liked, then he asked her about her work and they talked and talked and talked.

"Do you want to dance?" he suddenly asked her.

"If you don't mind that I'm not really a good dancer than I would love to dance…"

"That doesn't matter, I'm not that great either…" he took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He put his arms around her waist and she put her arms around his neck. He drew her closer and they moved to the music. She didn't know how she felt. She was in love with Charlie, but she had a great time with Dean and he obviously liked her. They continued to dance and he pulled her closer again.

"Do you want to go on a date with me, sometime?" he breathed into her hair. She looked up at him and bit her bottom lip.

"Please?" he mouthed and she finally nodded. He smiled a brilliant smile and continued dancing. A few songs later, they walked back to their friends to drink something.

"Had a good time, mate?" Seamus asked his best friend and winked at him. Dean ignored him and brought Hermione a drink.

After a while Hermione excused herself to go to the loo and Luna followed her.

"So, Dean huh? He's cute and reeeaally good looking!" Luna told her as they were alone. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He asked me out. I said yes. Let's see what happens!"

"What about Charlie?"

"What about him?" Luna gave her a look, who practically screamed 'You know exactly what I mean, don't play dumb!'. Hermione sighed "He has a girlfriend and I have to move on, so why not now?"

Luna seemed satisfied with her answer, because she didn't question her further. They left the bathroom and rejoined the group. They drank a few Firewhiskey's and this time they all went back to the dance floor. Things between Hermione and Dean got more and more heated – they lost all inhibitions because of the alcohol in their blood and as Dean kissed Hermione, she didn't stop him. They explored each other's bodies with their hands and their friends watched them with amused expressions.

"Dinner tomorrow?" Dean asked as they broke apart.

"Yeah!" Hermione replied and kissed him again.


	7. First Time

**Hi guys ;D**

**I hope you won't hate me when you read this chapter... I'm planning on keeping Hermione's and Dean's relationship for a few chapters before Charlie will get the girl...brace yourself for a morning after, a Weasley dinner and a lot of jealousy in the next couple of chapters..**

**Now, a date and mild LEMONS..**

**WARNING! MILD LEMONS IN THIS CHAPTER! DO NOT READ IF UNDERAGE OR EASILY OFFENDED...**

**I hope you'll enjoy nonetheless & maybe tell me what you think about it :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Today was her date with Dean and Hermione was nervous, she never really went on a date before. She didn't really count Victor and the Yule Ball as a date. As she woke up today, she temporary forgot what happened between Dean and her yesterday, but quickly remembered the previous night again. She was confused about the feelings she had for Dean, but reminded herself that she wouldn't marry him today, so she didn't have to be in love with him. It was just a great night and today they would go on a date. She would see soon enough if she wanted more with him.

She wore a red, figure-hugging, knee-length dress, she bought a few months ago, with black high heels. She put on some make-up, but not too much, because she hated it and pinned her hair loosely up.

A knock on the frontdoor indicated the arrival of Dean. She took one deep, calming breath and opened the door. There he stood with deep blue jeans and a white button-down shirt. He had a bouquet of rose tulips in his hands and his jaw slacked as he saw her.

"Hi. Come in!" she said, slightly blushing, because of the look on his face. Dean came out of his stupor and walked into Grimauld Place. After the war they removed the concealment charm from the house, of course muggles still couldn't see it.

"Mione, you look absolutely stunning." she blushed once again and quietly thanked him. He gave here the flowers and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I just put these in some water. You can come with me, if you'd like…then we can go." she told him and walked in the direction of the kitchen. He followed her.

"Woah, kitten. You look hot!" Sirius exclaimed as Hermione walked into the kitchen, he didn't saw Dean yet "Do you have a date?" he asked, in that moment Dean entered the kitchen too "You do have a date!" Sirius grinned and stood up.

"Hey, I'm Sirius. Treat her well, okay?" he shook Dean's hand.

"Sirius, shut up!" Hermione muttered. Dean shook Sirius' hand back and smiled at him, he was secretly nervous, but didn't want to show it.

"I'm Dean. I will, sir!" he told Sirius. Meanwhile Hermione put the flowers in some water and turned her attention back to her date.

"I'm ready. Let's go! Bye Sirius!"

"Bye kitten, Dean…have fun!" he winked at them and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Bye Sirius!" Dean said and the two disappeared through the door.

"So, where are we going?" Hermione asked finally after a few moments.

"I discovered a great restaurant in muggle London a few weeks ago. It isn't far from here actually. The food is delicious!"

Dean took her hand and they continued walking. Hermione blushed, but still had to smile. They reached their destination and sat on a table for two in a quiet corner. He helped her out of her coat and shifted the chair for her, just like the perfect gentleman. They looked at the menu and tried to decide what to order. A few moments later, a waiter came and asked for their orders. Dean wanted a glass of red wine and a roast beef, gravy and steamed vegetables, whereas Hermione ordered a glass of white wine, roasted chicken with potatoes and a small salad.

"Mione, I just wanted to let you know, that I really had a great time yesterday." he told her after the waiter walk away.

"Me too! And I'm really glad we are here right now." she smiled at him and he grinned back, nodding.

They talked trough dinner and dessert and had a great time. They drank a lot of wine and laughed a lot. After Dean paid the bill, they made their way through London. As they arrived at Hermione's frontdoor they still laughed about some silly joke Dean made. They finally stopped laughing and realized how close they were. Hermione looked up at him and automatically licked her lips. Dean leaned down and their lips met in a soft kiss, but it soon got passionate and wild. As Dean's lips wandered down her neck, she had to stifle a moan.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked him, as her hands wandered through his short hair. Dean nodded on her neck and they stumbled into the house. They bumped into wardrobe and they had to laugh.

"Bedroom?" Dean asked, as he lifted her up.

"Second floor, first door." He carried her upstairs, while she kissed his neck and jawline. They finally hit the bed and continued making out. You could hear the heavy breathing and the moans that left their throats once in a while. Suddenly they were only left in their underwear, the other clothes long forgotten somewhere on the floor.

As he unclasp her bra he looked deep into her eyes and whispered "Beautiful!". She smiled a shy smile and kissed him softly. He trailed kisses down her chest and took one rosy nipple into his mouth and sucked, while massaging the other one. Hermione had to moan and moved her hand down to the bulge in his boxers, he groaned and began to suck the other nipple. He moved his hands down her flat stomach to her legs and stroked them gently, then he moved up again and stopped at her lacy knickers. He looked up and searched her face for permission, she gave a short nod and he, with her help, slid them down her legs.

"Dean?" she whispered, breathlessly. He moved up again and traced her features with his finger.

"Hmm?"

"I-I-I just wanted to let you know…I've n-never done t-this before…"

Dean looked shocked for a second before he softly smiled "Doesn't matter to me, but we can stop if you want!" he reassured her, kissing her cheek.

"I don't want to stop. I just wanted to tell you…"

"I'll go slow, I promise!" he said and kissed her once again. He moved one hand down her stomach and down her waist, until one finger rested on her clit, he gently stroked it and she gasped. Then he moved down further and slowly pushed one finger in and pumped in and out of her. Hermione led out a long moan and arched her back. She moved her hands to his boxers and pushed them down. She took his erection in her hand and began stroking it slowly. He moaned and added a second finger.

"Please…." she whispered and he stopped moving his fingers.

"Are you sure? It will probably hurt a bit…"

"I'm sure, Dean. It's okay!" He guided his shaft to her opening and slowly entered her, while kissing her, hoping to distract her. She winced slightly, but it was bearable. He stopped and waited for her to adjust.

"Are you okay?" he asked her concerned, giving her gentle kisses all over her face.

"I'm okay. You can move now…" He began to slowly move in and out of her and sometimes rubbed her clit. He moaned her name loudly and Hermione hooked her legs around his waist. She almost felt no pain anymore and it felt really nice.

He felt his orgasm approaching and rubbed her clit a bit harder. She felt her own orgasm building and moaned. With two more thrusts he came and took her with him over the edge. He collapsed beside her and pulled her close to him. They tried to regulate their breaths and just snuggled with each other.

"Best date ever!" he whispered after a while. Hermione giggled in response.


	8. Family Dinner Part 1

**Chapter 8**

The room was sun-drenched from the early morning sun, Hermione had to cover her eyes and groan. She wanted to turn around, but an arm pulled her closer, so she almost couldn't move. _Wait, an arm? Oooh yeah – Dean. _Hermione had to smile. She had sex last night. _Three times!_ And it was amazing. Dean was so gentle and she really felt beautiful, as he worshiped her body. She slowly turned around to look at him. He was still asleep and looked so peaceful. Normally, she would have never slept with someone after the first date, but with Dean, it felt just right. She knew that she had still feelings for Charlie, but she really really liked Dean, so she pushed this thoughts to the back of her mind. He slowly woke up and opened his eyes. He saw her watching him and smiled at her.

"Morning, beautiful!" he whispered huskily.

"Morning!" she whispered back. He bent his head down and kissed her, first on the mouth, then cheek and then just under her ear.

"Last night was amazing!" he said and she shyly nodded "I know, it's probably a stupid question, but are we official now?" he asked her.

"Yeah…I mean, if you'd like…I mean…" she rambled and he chuckled.

"I would like that!" he said, kissing her.

"Good, because I would like that too!" she answered against his lips and so they continued where they left off the previous night….

An hour later, they lay snuggled together in bed, Dean stroking her hair, while Hermione traced his abs with her finger.

"Do you want some breakfast? I have to warn you though…Sirius will probably be in the kitchen."

"I would like that. Oh, I don't mind. Sirius is a nice bloke…"

She hopped out of bed and opened a drawer to fetch some knickers. She put them on and searched for something to wear. Dean walked up to her and hugged her from behind.

"You know, you can wear my shirt…I bet it looks much better on you…" Hermione almost moaned as he began to kiss her neck.

"Hmm. Is that so?! And what would you wear?" she questioned, leaning back into him.

"I have my boxers…" Hermione laughed, he helped her with putting on his shirt and together, they left the room, to go to the kitchen. They didn't came far, until they kissed again, so in their embrace, they stumbled into the kitchen.

The noise of someone clearing his throat, brought them back to earth and they broke apart. In the kitchen were Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Teddy.

Hermione turned a brilliant shade of red and she quickly looked up at Dean before turning her attention back to the people in the room.

"Morning." They new couple said embarrassed.

"Morning!" the reply came, with chuckles from Sirius and Tonks.

"MIMI!" Teddy shouted and everyone laughed.

"Teddy!" she said, walking up to him and kissing him on the cheek. He changed his hair to her brown curls again and giggled. Hermione smiled and turned to Dean again.

"Sit down, sit down….what do you want for breakfast?"

"Do you have some toast and tea?" he asked, she nodded and prepared them breakfast.

"So Dean, how are you?" Remus asked.

"I'm great, Professor and you?"

"Dean, I'm not your Professor anymore, you can call me Remus. But I'm fine as well, thank you!"

Hermione meanwhile put some toast, tea, butter and jam on the table and sat beside Dean.

"Had a nice evening?" Tonks asked, grinning. They nodded and smiled.

"I think they had a great evening and night. I mean, it was so great, they forgot silencing charms!" Sirius said, winking.

Hermione and Dean looked at each other, then back at Sirius, then again back at each other. They looked like two fish, opening and closing their mouths, without saying anything. Hermione finally cleared her throat and looked at Sirius.

"You are one to talk…" she said and continued eating. Remus and Tonks began to laugh and the topic was over.

* * *

It was Hermione's week off from work and she spent it a lot with Dean. He would come to Grimauld Place after he was finished with work, or she would go to his flat. They went to dinner or just stayed at home, eating dinner there or they didn't eat dinner at all, because they just stayed in bed. It felt right to be with Dean, even though she dreamt of Charlie most nights.

She agreed to come to the Burrow and asked Mrs. Weasley if she could bring her boyfriend. Mrs. Weasley was over the moon and agreed straightaway. She told Dean about everything that happened last time she went to the Burrow, to warn him about Lavender and so on.

So, Friday came, and Dean and Hermione got ready for dinner at the Burrow. She got ready at his flat, because she would spent the night with him anyways, so she already had her things there.

"Are you ready, Mione?" he asked her.

"I think so…" she said. He came over to her and kissed her on the cheek "Everything will be fine, okay?" he told her. She nodded and took his hand. The apparated in front of the gates of the Burrow and walked the last couple of meters to the front door.

They knocked on the door and waited. Finally, Mrs. Weasley opened the door with a big smile on her face.

"Oh honey, you are here!" she exclaimed and hugged her, then she turned to Dean and hugged him too, which clearly surprised him.

"Molly, this is Dean, my boyfriend. Dean, this is Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley!" Dean said politely.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you too, Dean. I'm so happy that Hermione finally brought someone home! Come in, you too!"

"MIONE! DEAN?" came the shouts of Ginny, Ron and Harry.

"Hi guys! Long time no see!" Dean greeted the three, who looked slightly confused.

"Why are you here?" Ron asked.

"Honestly? He is my boyfriend, Ron…" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh that is great! Congratulations you too!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Thank you!" they replied.

Suddenly Charlie came over to them, with a blond beauty on his arm. Hermione wanted to barf.

"Hermione! Why didn't you tell me that you have a boyfriend?" he whispered as he hugged her.

"I didn't see you for a week, that is why…"

"Hermione, this is Emily. My girlfriend! Emily, this is one of my best friends Hermione, we work together too." he introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily. This is Dean my boyfriend…Dean this is Charlie Weasley and his girlfriend Emily!" she forced out. They greeted each other and made small talk. Suddenly, Luna and Neville stepped out of the fireplace and Hermione and Dean excused themselves to say hello to their friends.

Luna pulled Hermione away from their boyfriends into a quiet corner and wanted to know everything that happened that week. She, of course knew what happened between them after their date, but aside from that didn't know anything. Hermione told her about the week they spent together, but repeatedly looked at Charlie and Emily.

"Hermione…why are you doing this? This isn't moving on, you know?!" Luna finally said. Hermione sighed.

"I know, but look at her. She is beautiful. I never had a change to begin with…"

Luna groaned "Oh, just stop it. You are beautiful too and let's be honest…she isn't that beautiful. I bet she uses some beauty charms….Do you like Dean?"

"Of course, I like Dean…I wouldn't have slept with him, if I didn't…" she hissed.

"Then concentrate on him. He really really likes you, so forget Charlie or you have to think about ending it with Dean, because he doesn't deserve to be used."

"I know….come on, let's get back to our boyfriends…"

They walked back and saw, that Dean talked with Mr. Weasley. Dean's eyes were wide open and in a far corner she saw Fred and George chuckling.

"Oh Merlin…" she said to herself and hurried to her boyfriend.

"Arthur, hi…so nice to see you. You met my boyfriend Dean?!" Hermione said and Dean quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah…I just told him to treat you well." Mr. Weasley said.

"Don't worry, Arthur. He is great!" Mr. Weasley kissed her on the cheek and gave Dean one last meaningful look and went to talk to Percy.

"I'm so sorry. I bet Harry got the same talk, but I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"Shhh. Mione, it's alright. I was just surprised for a minute. It is great, that he cares so much about you. You are like his daughter. I would do the same if I had a daughter!" he kissed her and Hermione relaxed.

"Dinner is ready. Everyone to the table!" Mrs. Weasley called.


	9. Family Dinner Part 2

**Hi guys ... **

**This is part two of the Burrow scene AND, as requested, I put some Charlie's POV in it...**

**I hope you'll enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The table and the room were magically extended, because there simply were too many people. She was sat between Dean and Luna and unfortunately opposite from Charlie and Emily. Charlie was still her friend, but it was hard for her, seeing him with Emily.

"Where is Lavender?" Luna whispered and Hermione shrugged, but the question was answered as the floonetwork was activated and Lavender stepped into the room.

"Sorry, I'm late…I just couldn't decide what to wear." Lavender exclaimed, almost everyone at the table rolled their eyes and Luna even snorted.

"Dean! What are you doing here? We didn't see each other in ages!" she said, coming over to him and hugging a very surprised Dean.

"Oh, hi Lavender. Yeah, it's been a while. I'm here with Hermione!"

"Why?" she asked and Hermione and Luna groaned.

"I'm her boyfriend!" Dean answered grinning.

"WHAT?" she shouted. Luna actually growled.

"Is something wrong with that?" Dean asked her with raised eyebrows.

"No, no…nothing." she quickly said and took her seat next to Ron.

"Tuck in!" Mrs. Weasley told them and everyone began to load their plates full of food. Everyone had their own little conversation. Mr. Weasley, Percy and Audrey talked about the ministry, Mrs. Weasley conversed with Fleur and Bill about their daughter. Remus, Tonks and Sirius laughed about something Teddy did this afternoon, Ginny and Harry made small talk with Luna, Neville, Hermione and Dean, Ron just stuffed himself with food, Lavender looked annoyed. Emily whispered something into Charlie's ear, which made him grinning like an idiot, Fred and George planned a new product for their shop, with their girlfriends shaking their heads disapprovingly.

"So, how did you became a couple?" Ginny asked Hermione and Dean.

"Well, Luna, Nev, Parvati, Cho, Seamus, Dean and I went to that new bar in Diagon Alley and we began to talk. Then he asked me to dance. I said yes and well, it started."

"We had a really good time, we kissed, and I asked her out." Dean added and Ginny smiled.

"Hermione you are lucky. He is a great kisser." Ginny said, trying to whisper, but failing miserable. Hermione groaned and others looked shocked or amused at Ginny, especially Harry looked shocked.

"Merlin Ginny! Did you have to remind me?" Hermione said, beet red. Ginny giggled, but apologized.

"Did you have a good leave? What did you do? It was really boring without you at work. Sorry Remus!" Charlie said.

"No problem, Charlie!" Remus answered, chuckling.

"Oh, yeah. It was great, I really needed the time off. I hung out with Dean a lot…" she replied and Dean grinned. Charlie didn't look that happy about her answer, but nodded. Sirius began to laugh very hard and everyone looked at him confused.

"Sorry, but is this what young people call it these days? 'Hanging out'?"

"Sirius, I'm warning you…!" Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, but dear Sirius…" Fred began.

"Do tell…" George continued.

"What would you call it?" they finished together.

"Oh, I don't want to embarrass them…"

"Yeah, right!" Hermione muttered sarcastically.

"But…." Sirius began slowly "I would say, both Dean and our dear Hermione were ill, when Flitwick told them how to do a silencing charm!" he finished, winking.

Dean swallowed up his drink and had to chough very hard. Hermione went beet red, from anger and embarrassment. The others in the room were either amused, shocked, uncomfortable or in Charlie's case surprisingly angry.

"WHAT? YOU ARE SLEEPING WITH HIM?" He shouted. This outburst shocked the whole table, including Charlie himself.

"First of all Sirius, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! It was one freaking time we forgot, don't exaggerate! And second of all CHARLIE WEASLEY! What in the name of Merlin, is wrong with you? It is none of your business, if I sleep with Dean or not. You don't have to act like a big brother who wants to protect me. Thank you very much! I don't ask you, if you're screwing your girlfriend. So just shut up and let us continue with dinner." She said the part to Sirius out loud and the part directed at Charlie in a dead whisper. She looked at him one last time and focused on her plate again. She squeezed Dean's thigh quickly, but said nothing. The others didn't know what to say, so they continued eating too.

"I'm sorry." Charlie told her quietly, Hermione nodded mutely.

"Maybe someday we will go through a family dinner without any drama or anything….Just eating, nothing more, this is all I'm asking." Percy said quietly to himself.

_Charlie's POV_

Charlie didn't know what he was feeling. He was actually confused. He had a girlfriend and he was happy, but as he saw Hermione with her _boyfriend_ he was hurt, angry and…jealous. He didn't know, why he felt that way. Hermione was his friend, nothing more. Or was there something more? Charlie was in big trouble, that's for sure. Why didn't she tell me, she had a boyfriend? Ah, because they didn't see each other for a week. That is a bad good excuse. She could have owled me or floocalled. The situation would be easier for him, if this bloke – Dean – would look like a total douche, but no…he had to look like the dream of every mother and daughter. He still hated him!

As Hermione walked away with Luna, he followed her with his eyes. She was gorgeous, why didn't he see it sooner?! She is smart, funny and so loyal – Merlin, she was perfect. He watched her and it looked like the two women had a serious discussion about something. He wondered what about.

As they sat on the table, enjoying the dinner, everyone had their own little conversations. Emily whispered some naughty things into his ear and he smiled like an idiot, but secretly he thought about Hermione.

He mentally kicked himself as he just had to ask about her leave and what she was doing. He could have kicked Sirius and Fred and George too. He shocked himself as he shouted at her, he didn't want to react the way he did, but he was so jealous. Dean spent so much time with her, Dean could kiss her, touch her and now this? He knew he had no right to react like this, but he did and he knew he screwed things up between her and him. He had such a bad conscience, so he apologized, after her angry speech. She didn't even look up. Charlie was sure about three things. First, he had to make it up to Hermione. Second, he was jealous of Dean and third, and this really scared him, he was falling for Hermione.


	10. Decision

**Hi guys!**

**WOW, 30 Reviews - you guys are AMAZING! Your Support means sooo much to me, you can't even imagine. It is great to know, that even though I'm not a writer at all, you like the things I write :) just wow! Thank you, thank you, thank you :)**

**Please continue to tell me, what you think about it :))**

**Here is Chapter 10 and I'm ****trying**** to update today again :)**

**Hopefully enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The end of her leave from work came earlier than she hoped. Today was a full moon again and she would, once again, be alone with Charlie. She sighed, she didn't talk to him after dinner at the Burrow, but she was angry and mostly confused about his reaction. What was he thinking? No, he wasn't thinking at all, that was the problem. He wasn't in the office yet, and she wasn't looking forward to when he would come. The office door opened and Charlie walked in. His ocean blue eyes searched her brown eyes, but she didn't want to look at them, because she knew, she couldn't think straight if she did. Furthermore, her anger would probably instantly melt.

"Good Morning, Mione!" he carefully greeted her. She grumbled a 'Morning' back, but didn't look up from the paperwork. He sighed and she assumed he would walk to his desk, but instead he walked to her desk and kneeled down beside her.

"Listen, Hermione. I'm really, really sorry. I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me, please?"

"Why did you react that way, Charlie?" she asked him, without looking up. He groaned.

"It's complicated!" he finally answered after a long pause. Hermione threw her quill on the table and finally looked at him.

"Complicated? What is complicated? Just tell me why you reacted that way, Charlie. You are one of my best friends and you reacted like an IDIOT in front of the whole family, my other friends, your girlfriend, my boyfriend. So tell me, Charlie, why did you react that way? And why the hell is it so complicated?" Hermione slightly raised her voice.

"BECAUSE I WAS JEALOUS!" he shouted and stood up quickly. Hermione was confused and stood up as well. He turned his back to her and she took a few tentative steps to him.

"Jealous? Why were you jealous, Charlie?" she quietly asked. Charlie stayed silent. She took a few more steps and slowly put her hand on his shoulder "Charlie, look at me!" she said, but he still stayed silent and didn't move, so she stepped in front of him and took his face into her hands, so he had to look at her.

"Why were you jealous?" she whispered. Charlie looked so vulnerable, she just wanted to hug him and be there for him. She never saw like that, in all that years she knew him now.

"I-I-I'm so confused, Mione. I don't want to feel like this. I was n-n-never jealous of anyone in my life…and now this. I'm happy with Emily, so this is wrong, so, so wrong, b-but I'm falling in love with you and I was or I am jealous of Dean." He finally answered with a broken voice.

"W-What?" she stuttered. Hermione couldn't believe it. Charlie was falling in love with her? What? But, wait…he didn't want to feel like this!

"I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable and I'll never speak of it again. I'm with Emily, she makes me happy and you are with Dean. You are my best friend and I want to keep it that way."

"So you are telling me about your feelings towards me and then you tell me that you don't want to talk about it and just stay my best friend. Am I understanding you correctly?" Hermione asked, slightly angry. Secretly, she knew she couldn't be angry at him, because she did the same thing, except she didn't tell him about her feelings for him. Merlin, why has life always be so complicated or why did she always make it that complicated.

"Yes…so, let's get to work." he said and walked to his desk. Hermione gazed after him, but he didn't look up.

"Can't we just talk about it like two adults?" Hermione asked him.

"Hermione, there is nothing to talk about, so please, just leave it!"

"Fine, have it your way. I'll see you later, I have to go and see Kingsley!" and with that, she was out of the door, leaving an unhappy Charlie behind.

* * *

"Where do you want to eat?" Dean asked her, as they met in the entrance hall of the ministry for the lunch break.

"I'm not really hungry, so you can decide." she answered him.

"Okay, let's go then. Are you okay? You look distracted." he questioned her, as they made their way out of the ministry.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a lot of work! How was your day so far?"

And so Dean told her about his day and some things that happened at the ministry, while Hermione tried to listen. Every now and again, her thoughts wandered to Charlie and their argument they had a few weeks ago. They didn't talk at all, after she came back from Kingsley and the last couple of weeks were difficult. They talked again, but nothing was as before. It really worried her. Would it always be like that from now on? Was their friendship over for good or what would happen to them? She wanted to tell him about her feelings, but first, she knew he wanted to stay with Emily and second, she didn't know what to do about Dean. She had to make a decision and that quickly, because it wasn't fair to play with Dean's feelings, she knew that. He was so nice and caring and he really, really liked her. She liked him too, but compared to the feelings she had for a certain red-headed ex-dragon tamer it was nothing. Merlin, she was pathetic. She never thought she would be someone who plays with the feelings of others. She hated herself for that. So, she told herself, she would make a decision by the end of the week. No more hiding, no more lies, just a final decision.

* * *

The following days, Hermione thought non-stop about everything. She thought about her feelings for Charlie, her feelings for Dean and what she wanted. It wasn't an easy decision and she talked a lot with Luna about it. Luna couldn't tell her what to do, but at least, she was there for her. Luna didn't beat around the bush and for that she was thankful. She told her what she thought was wrong for her to do and what she thought was right. She held her when she cried and she joked around if she needed it.

The week was over and she would meet Dean at his flat to break up with him. Yes, she would break up with him, even though it would break her heart and more important, probably his heart. The decision wasn't easy, but she didn't want to lead him on even further, than she already had. He was a great guy and he deserved a girlfriend who had the same feelings for him as he had for her and she didn't have those feelings. She would break up with him and then confess her feelings for Charlie and go from there.

She arrived in front of Dean's front door and took a deep breath, before knocking. Let's get it over with…..


	11. Easy or Complicated?

**Another update today ;D YAY! ^^**

**I promise you, it won't take too much longer until they finally get together, but it's so much fun to write a bit of Drama ^^Please don't hate me :)**

**Oh and by the way for those of you who know my Story ****_What now? _****I had to delay it, because I got into a bit of Trouble because of the Lemons in it :S I change it now and I'll upload it again, so keep an eye out for that :)**

**Enjoy chapter 11 :)**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

The door opened and Dean stood with a big grin in front of her. His face fell as he saw Hermione's facial expression. He opened the door further to let her in and they sat together on the couch.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked her.

"I-I have to talk to you…about us." She answered and he instantly knew, what she was going to say. So he told her to go on and just listened.

"I thought about the best way to tell you this, but let's be honest, there is no good way to tell you what I want to tell you, so I just tell you the truth. As our relationship began, I knew that I had feelings for someone else, but you made me feel so good, so I decided to suppress those feelings and concentrate on you. I-I really like you, so I thought that it worked. Well, I realized it didn't. So, I started to think about everything, your feelings, my feelings, just everything and I realized that I can't continue to do that to you. As much as I would like to continue our relationship, I knew it isn't fair to you. You deserve a girlfriend you feels the same for you, as you for her and not a girlfriend who has stronger feelings for someone else. I know, that you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm really, really sorry and I never intended to hurt you…" she finished, with tears in her eyes. Dean looked at her with a sad smile and nodded.

"It's Charlie, isn't it?" he asked and Hermione looked shocked, to say the least "I expected it and the way he reacted at the Burrow, I would say he feels the same. I know, you didn't want to hurt me and I promise you, I'll get over it. It isn't easy now, but with time…" he trailed off, but started again, after clearing his throat "I hope, we'll be friends again someday and I wish you the best with Charlie. He is a lucky bloke. Goodbye, Hermione!" he said and gave her a last kiss on the forehead. She knew, he wanted her to leave, so she thanked him and walked out of his apartment.

Dean really was a wonderful man, the way he reacted, even if it hurt him…She hoped, he would soon find a wonderful woman, who just had feelings for him, he really deserved it.

* * *

_Knock, Knock_

A very surprised Charlie Weasley opened the door in just his sweats. Hermione had to concentrate and try to not look at his muscular chest, arms and his abs. Working with dragons for so long, definitely gave him a great body.

"Mione? What are you doing here?" he asked, as she was deep in thought, therefore didn't say anything.

"Can we talk? Are you alone?" she asked. He nodded and let her in.

"Sit down. Do you want something to drink?" he asked her. She declined, so he sat next to her on the couch. "Did something happen? What did you want to talk about?" he continued asking.

"Well, you could say that…I w-wanted to tell you, that I have feelings for you too and wanted to talk to you about that."

Charlie was shocked to say the least, you could see it in his face. His eyes grew really wide and you could practically hear him thinking. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Hermione, I don't know what to say…"

Hermione mentally groaned and rolled her eyes. Really? He didn't know what to say…just great.

"How about you tell me how you feel?!" she urged. He sighed again.

"Hermione, we are great friends and our friendship is really important to me. I don't want that to change. You are with Dean and I am with Emily…" Hermione opened her mouth to tell him, she wasn't with Dean anymore, but he didn't let her speak, he continued instead "…I really have strong feelings for her and I don't want to break it off with her!"

Tears ran down Hermione's face, she almost couldn't breathe. Was that really it? He was in love with her, but wanted to stay with a person he had strong feelings for? How strong could that feelings be? Why was he doing that? She didn't really understand.

"You told me you are falling in love with me, but you don't want to be with me?! Why?" she whispered.

"I don't want to destroy my friendship with you and I don't want to destroy my relationship. Emily is everything I always imagined to be in a girlfriend and I really think that I can have a future with her."

"And I am not and you can't have a future with me?" Charlie paused a few moments before answering with a quiet 'Yes'. Hermione nodded, more tears streaming down her face.

"Okay, sorry I disturbed you. See you at work tomorrow." she stood up and walked to the door.

"Hermione!" Charlie exclaimed, Hermione stopped, but didn't turn around. She hoped, he would change his mind and tell her, he wanted to be with her, but….

"I'm sorry, I'm still your best friend…I hope you know that!" he said and her hopes shattered. Hermione nodded once again and left the flat. Hermione didn't understand him…

**Charlie's POV**

Charlie meanwhile was devastated. He was scared of his feelings for Hermione, because he NEVER felt anything near that what he felt about Hermione. He loved her and it scared the crap out of him. So he rather lied to her and stayed with Emily. She was easy to be with and he knew she didn't want a family. With Hermione, however, it wouldn't be easy to be with – she was challenging. She wanted a family, what was the next thing, which scared the crap out of him. He never imagined having a family with someone and there she was and changed EVERYTHING. He was a coward for not admitting his feelings for her and staying with a woman he didn't love, but it was easy and Charlie wanted easy – not complicated and challenging, not feelings that scared the shit out of him. Before he met her, he didn't even know the word JEALOUSY, but again, there she was and he got actually jealous. No, he told himself, he never wanted those feelings, so he had to suppress them!


	12. I resign!

**Oh my...another update^^ I'm in a good mood today ;)**

**The end is in sight, people :) only about two more chapters ...**

**Hopefully enjoy chapter 11**

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**Chapter 12**

Hermione was a mess. She lay in her bed in the dark, bawling her eyes out. She was heart-broken, but thought she deserved it – that was for leading a great man on and then breaking it off with him. Why was Charlie so stubborn? She had to face him at work, but she didn't know, how she could act like she wasn't hurt, because she was – badly. She didn't want him to see how hurt she was, she showed him enough weakness the last couple of months – enough was enough. The bedroom door opened and Hermione looked up, startled. It was Luna. The blond woman closed the door behind her and quietly made her way to the bed. She embraced Hermione tightly and held her best friend closely.

"I was worried, because you didn't call after you went to Dean's flat, so I decided to come over. What happened, Mione? Did Dean get angry?"

Hermione tried to speak through her sobs "N-No. He w-was g-great." she paused, trying to breathe properly "I visited C-Charlie. He d-doesn't w-w-w want m-me!" She broke down in heavy sobs again.

"Oh, Mione!" Luna exclaimed and tried to soothe her "Shhh….Shhhh. I know, you don't see it now, but everything will be okay. He is stupid for not wanting you. Someday, you'll find someone you love just as much, when not more and he will want you too! Shhh…Shhh."

After a few minutes, Hermione slowly calmed down. Her sobs got quieter and quieter, until they finally subsided completely.

"Thank you!" she whispered, Luna in reply hugged her tighter.

* * *

"Good Morning, Hermione. Charlie has his leave from work this week, so it's just the two of us." Remus said as he came into the office, Hermione already sitting on her chair.

"Good Morning, Remus. Oh, okay. I didn't know he had the week off." Hermione really didn't know, but she had to admit, it made things easier. She didn't have to pretend she was fine in his presence for a whole week and maybe she would feel better by next week.

"So, how was your weekend?" Remus asked her after a while of silence.

"Well, not the best to be honest. How was your weekend? I hope better than mine…" she sighed.

"Do you want to talk about it? Mine was fine…"

"Thank you, but not really." she smiled sadly at him.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me!" she nodded and thanked him.

Even though her mind still was with Charlie most of the times, rather than at work, she didn't have that heavy feeling on her chest anymore when she was in the office. She didn't have to face him for a few days and this was great. Well, she would probably see him on Friday at dinner, but still, she had five more days. Emily will probably be there as well – that made the whole thing even more complicated and difficult for her. But she was a big girl now, she had to get over it someday and somehow.

* * *

"Oh Hermione, dear. How are you, honey? You look too skinny, you'll get a bigger plate for dinner today." Mrs. Weasley told her.

"I'm okay, Molly. How are you?"

"I'm fine…now, sit down, everybody is already sitting around the table, dinner is ready too."

She walked into the dining room, said a polite 'Hello', hugged Mr. Weasley and sat down. She avoided eye contact with everybody, except Luna and Neville and stayed silent. Throughout dinner, she didn't join any of their conversations, just politely answering, if someone asked her something. Maybe it was rude, but she really wasn't in the mood – not when a few seats away from her, Emily and Charlie were talking and gushing about the short vacation they took together this week. Merlin, she was bitter – she didn't recognize herself anymore. They told the family how happy they were and Emily talked about the sweet things Charlie did for her. One single tear made her way down her face and she quickly wiped it away before anyone could see it. It was over between Charlie and her, truly over. No, it couldn't be over, because it never actually begun, but she really realized now, that there will never be an 'us' between them. The one last faint hope she had was blasted. She accepted it, but she couldn't work with him anymore. She had to find a new job – far away from him, so she had the change of moving on with her life, without him there every day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley "Hermione, how is Dean? Why didn't you bring him this time?"

She felt Luna's hand squeezing her knee in a comforting manner and every eye in the room turned their attention to her – she didn't like it at all.

She swallowed harshly and answered quietly "We broke up last week!"

"Oh, I'm so, so sorry dear." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Do I have to speak with the young man for hurting you?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Oh Merlin, no! He did nothing wrong, I broke up with him, it's completely my fault."

"What happened, Mione?" Ginny asked. Hermione sighed.

"I just didn't feel the same way about him, as he about me. I broke up with him, so I wouldn't lead him on longer than I already had…but let's talk about something happier."

* * *

Charlie's POV

She broke up with him last week? Oh Merlin…She wanted to tell him this, as she confessed his feelings, but he wouldn't let her talk. Great, Charlie, just great. But no, this didn't change a thing, or did it? No, he was still scared as hell about this. I'm not the type for all of this feeling-crap-stuff.

Merlin, he was a complete jerk – to her and to Emily. Could he really live without Hermione? He wanted her, so bad. He loved her, not Emily. He could imagine a future with her, a family, a house, everything. Why was he so freaking stupid? He had to do something, quickly!

Break up with Emily was probably the first step….and then he had to overcome his fears, be a man and tell the girl he loved, how he felt about her and make her his.

Yes, that is what he would do. Stop being a coward and act on his feelings!

* * *

Hermione's POV

After dinner at the Burrow was over, she asked Remus to come back to Grimauld Place, because she had to talk to him.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm so thankful that you requested me on your team, but some things happened and it makes it impossible for me, to work for the ministry anymore. I'll talk to Kingsley immediately on Monday. I'm sorry, but I resign!"


	13. I'm so sorry!

**Hi guys :)**

**WOW - 40 Reviews, this is just unreal - I know, some of you have 100 or more reviews, but for me, 40 are AMAZING ;D THANK YOU!**

**The Review of ****_platypuslattes_**** got me thinking ... I would make more chapters if you really want ...**

**So enjoy chapter 13 and please tell me what you think (about more chapters, the chapter itself, things you would like to read,...)**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Hermione's POV

Hermione immediately talked to Kingsley on Monday. He was sad to lose her for the ministry, but told her, she could always come back if she wanted. Hermione thanked him for everything and went back home. She told Sirius, she would be on vacation for a few weeks to clear her mind, she wrote Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron and Ginny a letter and only told Luna and Neville were she would be. She wanted to clear her head and think about what she wanted to do next. The ministry was, at least at the moment, no option, so she had to consider her options. She had enough money, so it wasn't a problem to not work for a while, until she decided and found something. She went to France, where her aunt had a small cottage, just perfect for what she had in mind. She loved France – it was beautiful and she could just relax. Her peace was disturbed by a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" she thought and slowly walked to the front door of her cottage. As she opened the door, her mouth fell open, she couldn't believe who stood in front of her.

* * *

Charlie's POV

Charlie had a terrible night. He finally broke it off with Emily and well, she didn't take it well, but he knew now, it was for the best. He couldn't be with someone he didn't love, just because he was scared of his feelings for his best friend. He hoped, he wasn't too late. He had hurt her badly and he prayed she would still have him. He wanted her – he needed her – he LOVED her.

"Morning Remus!" he greeted his boss.

"Morning, Charlie!" he replied. Charlie wanted to say something to Hermione, but she wasn't there – strange, she was always the first to be there. And wait, there was nothing on her desk either.

"Remus, where is Hermione? And why is nothing on her desk?" he asked, panicked.

"Didn't she tell you? She resigned…."

"WHAT? Oh no, no, no….this is my fault. I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?"

"No, I don't know. Sirius owled me an hour ago and told me she went on vacation to clear her head, but she didn't tell him where she was going."

"I-I need to find her. I'm sorry, I have to go. I hope you won't kick me out, but I just need to talk to her, now." and without waiting for an answer, Charlie walked out of the office and out of the ministry.

He knew only one person, Hermione would tell where she went….

* * *

_Knock, knock_

"Luna! Open up!" Charlie called her, as he knocked on her door. When someone knew, where Hermione was, she was the one.

"Charlie? What's up?" Luna asked, as she opened the door.

"Where is she?" Charlie came straight to the point.

"Come in…" Luna said, not answering his question. Charlie stepped into her house and repeated the question.

"Why do you want to know, Charlie? First, I'm not allowed to tell you and second, you are the reason she left in the first place, so why should I tell you?!"

"I know, I made a huge mistake, but I want to fix it. Please, Luna, I have to talk to her…I broke up with Emily…I l-love Hermion, I need to tell her that."

Luna sighed "And how can I be sure you won't hurt her again, huh? How do I know, you won't be a coward again?"

"Luna, please! I promise you! I finally realized how stupid I was…I'll never let fear of something lead my life again…I just want to talk to her, apologize and tell her how I really feel…I'm begging you!"

Luna looked at him closely, probably to decide, if she could really trust him. She sighed again and turned around, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Listen carefully, Charlie! If you hurt her in any way, I swear to Merlin, you'll have to face me and it won't be pretty, I'm telling you. I'll give you the address, because I think you are being honest and, most of all, because I want my best friend to be happy. If I'll hear from her, that you won't make her happy…" she trailed off, giving him the piece of paper with the address on it.

"Thank you so much, Luna!" he hugged the blond woman tightly and left her house "You can do this, Charlie!" he told himself and hurried back to the ministry to get a portkey.

* * *

Hermione's POV

Hermione couldn't believe it. In front of her stood Charlie Weasley, looking nervous, but at the same time determined. She couldn't say a word, her mouth was wide open, it must look ridiculous.

"You didn't say goodbye!" he finally said softly. She still couldn't say a word, so he continued "May I come in?"

Hermione stepped aside and let him in, she finally found her ability to speak again and asked "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't say goodbye and I needed to talk to you, so here I am."

"Well, then talk…I'm listening." Charlie walked up to her and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I wanted to apologize for hurting you the way I did. I was an idiot and because I was scared, I tried to suppress all those feelings for you. You have to know, that I never felt like this, I never thought I would be the one for a serious relationship, I never was jealous of anyone and I never was in love with someone before. And suddenly you came into my life and I mean really came into my life, not the few times we saw each other throughout the years, no you came into my life as my best friend. But then, I realize suddenly that I feel so much more for you than just for a friend and I got jealous of Dean and it felt like someone threw me into ice cold water. I got scared like the coward I am and told myself that I don't want this feelings, so I hurt you and told you that you aren't right for me and that I would stay with Emily. I'm so sorry, Hermione. I l-love you and I want to be with you. Can you forgive me?" he finished. He brushed some of the tears, which ran down Hermione's face, away with his thumbs and waited. Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times before she composed herself enough to form a few sentences.

"I-I don't know what you want to hear from me now. You are so late, Charlie. I love you too, but why should I forgive you now? You told me so many times that you don't want to be with me – what changed now?"

"I realized that I was stupid for letting fear lead my life. I don't want to be scared anymore, I want to live my life the way I really want and I realized that this life includes you and I mean you not just as my best friend, but you as the love of my life, you as my wife someday, you as the mother of my children. I love you, Hermione. Please forgive me?"

The look in Charlie's eyes was one of pure honesty, love and a bit of desperation. Hermione melted and practically bounced on him and kissed him with all the bottled-up emotions she had. And Charlie kissed her back with just as much emotion. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her waist, while her hands were in his medium-length red hair. They could talk about everything later, now was just the time to let actions speak.


	14. Finally!

**Hi ;D**

**This chapter contains scenes where sex is mentioned/implied BUT nothing major ...do not read if easily offended or not mature enough**

**Charlie finally got the girl YAY ;D **

**Hopefully enjoy chapter 14**

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**Chapter 14**

After the need of oxygen couldn't be ignored any longer, the two broke apart, breathing heavily. Charlie traced Hermione's facial features with his finger and smiled at her tenderly.

"I love you." He whispered and gave her a peck on the nose "I love you, too." She answered and pulled him near for another kiss. The more they kissed, the more passionate it grew between them. They stumbled through the small living room, in the direction of the bedroom and finally fell down onto the bed. They just lay there, roaming each other's bodies, kissing wildly. They alternated between him, trailing kisses down her neck and her, giving him feathery-light kisses across his stubble covered chin and cheeks. They didn't feel so content, happy and at ease in ages. Finally, they were just right where they belonged – not with other people, who didn't made them quiet as happy as they felt when they were together. It just felt right, they both felt it. Hermione slowly unbuttoned Charlie's black shirt and kissed the exposed skin, as she was finished, she took her own t-shirt off, while he threw his shirt carelessly on the floor. He caressed her exposed skin with his rough hands, while looking deep into her eyes, where he saw a mix between lust, love and happiness. He bet, he had just the same look on his face.

"You look stunning!" he said to her. A look of disbelief grazed her soft features. She turned red, looked away and mumbled "Stop it, Charlie!"

He forced her to look at him by taking her chin carefully in his hand and turning her face to him "Please believe me. You really do! When your cheeks are all red like this….when you smile this shy smile or when you are all angry – I tell you, every time you take my breath away, as cheesy as that may sound."

Charlie clearly didn't expect the reaction of Hermione, by the very surprised look on his face, as she practically bounced on him and kissed him with as much strength she could muster. Charlie quickly overcame his surprise and kissed her back. They made quick work with the remaining clothes they had on, long forgotten was the gentle and slow love making. They needed each other – now.

* * *

Hermione lay panting on top of a just as panting Charlie. They didn't talk while catching their breaths, they just lay there, Charlie's arms tightly wrapped around Hermione's slim waist and Hermione's hand playing unconsciously with Charlie's messy red hair.

"Bloody hell! That was…just Merlin, WOW!" Charlie exclaimed suddenly.

Hermione propped herself up on her elbows, so she could look at him and said with all the seriousness she could muster "Language, Charles Weasley!" before she began to laugh uncontrollably, he joined her soon after.

"It's possible that I'm unemployed now." he suddenly said.

"What? Why?" she asked confused.

"Well, I just stormed out of the ministry to find you."

"Oh Charlie…you need to go back and talk to Remus or Kingsley…"

"It can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I'm right where I want to be and the rest can wait…So, what are your plans? I mean, now that you don't work for the ministry anymore?"

Hermione sighed "I really don't know. I mean, the reason I came here is to think about exactly that, but now the reason I resigned in the first place isn't there anymore, so I really don't know. Kingsley said, I could always come back, but I'm not a 100% sure, if I want to…please don't be mad!"

"Why would I be mad? It's your decision where you want to work, Mione. If you don't want to work for the ministry anymore it is more than fine. Just because we won't work together anymore, doesn't mean, we can't be together. We'll work things out, you'll see. Work is just one of the many things we have to work out in the future!" he kissed her on the temple.

"You're right. Sooooooo, do you want something to eat?"

* * *

"So, are you going to the ministry tomorrow morning to talk to Remus?" Hermione asked, as the new couple sat together on the comfy couch.

"Yeah…how long will you be staying here? By the way, why France?"

"I probably won't stay long now. Oh well, I love France and my parents and my aunt always took me here when I was younger. This cottage is my aunt's."

Charlie pulled her closer and whispered "They would be…no they are, I'm sure of it…so proud of you." Hermione didn't say anything, she just snuggled deeper in his embrace.

* * *

"After work or after I finished talking I'll come back, okay?" Charlie said the next morning.

"Yes, see you later. Good luck."

"Thank you. See you later. I love you!" he said, kissing her goodbye.

""I love you too." and he apparated away.

* * *

Charlie's POV

Charlie walked in the direction of his office to talk to Remus. He was slightly nervous, he knew he shouldn't have just left work, but in that moment he only thought about Hermione and didn't care at all. He knocked on the door and slowly walked in.

"Morning, Remus." He greeted the older man.

"Good morning, Charlie." was the only thing he said.

"Listen, Remus. I'm really sorry I just walked out yesterday…I just needed to find her. I completely understand if I don't have a job anymore…but I really want you to know, that I am sorry."

"Did you find her?" Remus asked.

"Yes."

"Is everything okay now?"

"More than okay." Charlie replied smiling.

"Good. On your desk is a lot of paperwork to look through…so chop-chop!"

"Thank you, Remus!" Charlie exclaimed and began to work. Remus' mouth twitched and transformed to a smile.

* * *

"Hermione?" Charlie called as he walked into the cottage in France in the late afternoon.

"Kitchen!" he heard her shout, so he walked to the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Hermione cooking, only wearing a t-shirt and small knickers. He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.

"Hi…how was your day?" he asked.

"Great, I thought about my job situation and decided I would like to go back to the ministry. I already owled Kingsley and he more than happily agreed. How was your day? What did Remus say?"

"This is great, Mione! But are you a 100% sure you want this? Yesterday you said, you weren't sure. Oh, it was okay and Remus didn't say much, I'm glad…"

Hermione turned around and said "I'm sure. I thought about it and I really like working there, so why not?! Maybe someday I'll want to work somewhere else, but right now, I want to continue working there. Dinner is almost ready, are you hungry?"

"Oh I am, but I can think of something much better than dinner." he said winking and massaging her bum. She giggled and dinner was forgotten.


	15. The Secret's out Part 1

**Hi ;D**

**I will continue with this story for a little bit longer :) Thank you once again for your kind words, the follows, favorites and generally for reading it at all :)**

**Here is chapter 15, I hope you'll enjoy...**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Hermione began to work at the ministry again and her relationship with Charlie went great so far. They decided they wouldn't announce their relationship right away, to wait and see if they'll work out as a couple. Of course, Luna and Neville knew and they suspected that Remus knew – they tried their best to act like they always did, but it wasn't as easy as they thought, plus Remus had his werewolf senses, they wouldn't be surprised if he could smell something. They spent more time in Charlie's flat, simply because they wanted to avoid the questions or teasing of Sirius. Charlie even blocked his floo-connection so that his family couldn't just floo in. Of course his family asked him about Emily and he told them, he didn't love her, so he ended it with her. His mother wasn't happy, because she thought, Charlie would finally settle down.

After three months, they finally decided they wouldn't hide anymore and they thought a family dinner on Friday would be the best occasion for that.

"So, you want to tell them?" Hermione asked one evening.

"Well, yeah of course, but we don't have to _tell_ them exactly." he grinned.

"What do you mean?"

"We could just go to dinner and touch here and there, give each other meaningful looks and so on…it will be fun."

"Are you serious? Your mum will freak out!"

"My mum will be fine, Mione. No need to worry." he assured her.

* * *

"Charlie, my boy!" Mrs. Weasley greeted her second eldest son and gave him a big bear hug.

"Hi, mum. You know, if we don't move a little bit, Hermione can't come in."

Mrs. Weasley immediately let go of him and moved to Hermione "Oh Hermione, dear. I'm sorry, I didn't see you. How are you?" she gave her the same bear hug, Hermione loved so much.

"Don't apologize, Molly. I'm great, and you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Come in, come in!" she ushered her in and continued, this time speaking to her son and adopted daughter "How was work?"

"It was fine, not really busy today." Charlie answered, Mrs. Weasley smiled and excused herself because she had to check on dinner, so Charlie put his hand on the small of Hermione's back and lead her into the living room, where everybody like usual, already was. They greeted everybody and saw that there was just one seat left, so Charlie sat down on it and pulled Hermione with him, so she could sit on his lap.

"You can sit here." Charlie told her.

"Oh thank you kind sir." she laughed. Some of the people in the room looked curious at the two, but didn't say anything. Luna and Neville just smiled knowingly.

"They are looking at us!" Hermione whispered into Charlie's ear.

"Let them…" he whispered back and slightly touched her ear with his lips. Hermione got goosebumps all over her body. Mrs. Weasley soon came to tell them all that dinner was ready, so they stood up and walked to the table. Charlie shifted the chair for Hermione, then sat beside her.

"Charlie, did you meet a nice girl?" Mrs. Weasley suddenly asked, in that moment Hermione reached for the bowl with steamed broccoli, but couldn't grab it, so Charlie helped her before answering his mother, and his hand lingered just a moment too long, to be considered to be just a friendly gesture.

"Thank you, Charlie." she said.

"No problem!" he winked at her and then turned back to his mother "Sorry. Yes, you could say that…and she is more than nice!" he answered and Mrs. Weasley beamed.

"Oh, wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"This is great, son! You have to introduce her to us." Mr. Weasley adden. Before Charlie could open his mouth, Lavender butted in.

"Did you read the Daily Prophet today?"

"Who in their right mind would read that rubbish?" Luna and Hermione asked simultaneously, then looked at each other and laughed. Lavender turned slightly red.

"No, Lavender. We don't read the Prophet anymore. Why?" Mrs. Weasley answered.

"There was a really interesting article in it today!"

"About?" Ginny asked.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed excitedly. Hermione swallow the water, she was drinking, up and had to cough. Charlie and Luna patted her back.

"About me?"

"Yeeeeeeessss. Want to read it?" Lavender asked, probably just waiting to embarrass Hermione.

Hermione put her hand out and raised her eyebrows, Lavender searched through her bag and pulled out today's copy of the Daily Prophet. Hermione didn't have to search for the article, because it was on the front page.

"Read out loud!" Lavender demanded, Hermione rolled her eyes at her, but did it anyways. The rest of the people in the room, probably wanted to read it as well, she could just read it out loud now.

**_Hermione Granger – did another man step into her trap?_**

_Hermione Granger (20), member of the Golden Trio, sometimes called the Brightest Witch of her age – has yet seduced another poor creature, so called man. Her list of her victims is long. For those of you, who don't know, here is the short summary of her, so called, love life._

_First came the international Quidditch star, Victor Krum in her 4__th__ year. He was head over heels in love with the much younger witch, before she cheated on him with her best friend and savior of the magical world, but that didn't last long, because she broke his heart, as she kissed Cedric Diggory, which tragically died a few months later on the hand of Him-who-must-not-be-named. But Miss Granger didn't stop there – no! She began a short relationship with fellow Gryffindor Cormac McLaggen. You would think, that this were enough relationships for such a young witch, but no, she started a relationship, with her other best friend, Ron Weasley. We don't know why this relationship ended so quickly, but it wouldn't surprise us, if she had found another victim. A few months ago, she was sighted with Dean Thomas, but yet again, sources tell us, she broke his heart too. _

_And now, she was seen with another, apparently very handsome, man on her side. We don't know who it is yet, but how long will it last this time until Miss Granger will break yet another heart? Owl us and tell us what you think about Hermione Granger's love life, we would love to hear your opinion._

_Article by Rita Skeeter._

Hermione grew redder and redder, the more she read. The other people in the room had either angry expressions or their faces, their mouths hanging open or, in Lavender's case, a satisfied grin on her face.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HER! Merlin! Victor just asked me to the ball. Harry? – oh Merlin, he is like my brother! How dare she bring Cedric into this? McLaggen? IS SHE FREAKING KIDDING ME? – This is just GROSS! Ron? Utter RUBBISH! OH THIS WOMAN!"

Charlie interrupted her rant, as he pulled her into his lap and said "Mione, calm down. Please?! She isn't worth it, the article – no, the whole paper is rubbish."

Hermione took a deep breath and she calmed down. She looked into his eyes and sighed "You're right!"

"So, your new 'victim' is apparently very handsome. What do you have to say about that?" he asked her, grinning.

"Hmmmm…. I think that is one of the….only truthful things she wrote." Hermione answered, pretending to think about it very hard.

"Wait, it is true? You have a new boyfriend?" Ginny asked.

"Yes." Hermione smiled.

"Who is it? Do we know him?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"May I introduce you all to my boyfriend, Charlie Weasley?! I think, you've met." Hermione said and Charlie waved quickly and kissed Hermione in front of everyone.

"Wha-what?" almost everybody asked with open mouths.


	16. The Secret's out Part 2

**Hi guys...**

**I'm sorry that you had to wait for an update, but my muse left me again :( I'm not really happy with this chapter and I really have to think about where I want to go with this story...and I'm sorry, this chapter is rather short**

**Thank you for the favorites, follows and Reviews (50!) it makes me reaaally happy :D I have to add, that I deleted some Reviews because I really don't like to be insulted...please stay with constructive criticism...I'm sorry that my stories have some errors in it (I am NOT a native speaker) or that my chapters are too short for your liking ... you can tell me this, but please, you don't need to be insulting...**

**If the errors are really that bad, I would love to find a beta reader - if you are interested, please write me, but you have to explain it to me, because I have no idea how it works ^^**

**Well, enough with that, I hope you'll enjoy chapter 16 nonetheless...**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

"We're together!" Charlie said.

Everyone in the room except for Remus, Tonks, Luna and Neville opened and closed their mouths without a word leaving their lips.

"Oh please…didn't you see that coming? It was so obvious, especially today." Tonks said.

"Today was actually on purpose, we wanted to let the cat out of the bag." Hermione explained.

"For how long? And how did it happen? Ginny asked.

"A little over three months…we wanted to wait and see if it works out until we would tell you…well, as Charlie and I began working together, we became really good friends and somewhere along the way we fell in love." Hermione began.

"But it wasn't that easy, was it?" Fleur asked.

"No, it wasn't as easy because Hermione was with Dean at the time and I was with Emily. Then, well you know what happened at dinner, I got really jealous and Hermione was really angry because I reacted that way…I apologized at work and she wanted to know why I reacted that way and I just blurted out that I was in love with her. We both were shocked to say the least and Hermione wanted to talk about it, but as pig-headed as I am sometimes I refused and told her to just forget about it…"

"Oh no…" Fred said.

"Dear brother…" George said.

"You are and idiot!" they said and everyone, even Charlie nodded, Hermione smiled.

"What happened then?" Audrey asked.

"What I didn't know was that Hermione had feelings for me too and so she broke up with Dean because of me and she came to me and told me she had feelings for me too, but once again I was really stupid…I was really scared of my feelings, because I'd never felt that way about a woman, so I told her that I didn't want her and that I would stay with Emily." he continued.

"Are you barmy?" Ginny asked.

"Oh man…" Bill sighed.

"Please continue…" Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, I was heart-broken and really didn't know what to do. To see him every day at work and pretending that nothing happened and that I didn't feel the way I did, it was horrible. Then to see him with Emily at dinner and I just decided that I needed space, so I told Remus and Kingsley that I'd resign. Kingsley said I could always come back if I wanted, I thanked him and went to France. My aunt has a cottage there." Hermione carried on.

"I was an idiot and as I heard that Hermione broke up with Dean I realized that I had to stop being such a coward and broke up with Emily…Hermione meanwhile had enough and resigned and went to France to get away for a while to think…I begged Luna to tell me where she went and then begged Hermione to forgive me…and as you can see, she forgave me and we are happy ever since." Charlie finished, giving Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Oh that is wonderful. I'm so happy for you two!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. The couple just smiled at her. The others in the room congratulated them too.

"How did Dean and Emily take it?" Angelina asked the couple.

"Dean was great. He actually suspected it already…but I felt and still feel horrible about it. I never wanted to hurt somebody." Hermione said sadly, Charlie squeezed her hand.

"Emily didn't take it too well, let's leave it with that." Charlie sighed and everyone nodded.

"Here, you can have your trash-paper back, Lav-Lav!" Luna sneered and threw the paper back into her hands. Lavender went bright red – well, it obviously hadn't the effect she hoped for.

"Oh, I practically hear…" Fred said.

"The wedding bells…" George continued.

"Ringing!" they finished together. Charlie and Hermione began to cough simultaneously.

"Merlin, Fred, George! Are you barmy?" Charlie finally asked.

"We are only dating for a bit over three months." Hermione said.

"Yeah, not there yet." Charlie continued.

"At all." Hermione added.

"We'll see." Bill suddenly said, grinning and Hermione and Charlie had a coughing fit again.

* * *

"That went really well." Hermione said later, as she lay in bed with Charlie.

"My family loves you, of course it went well. And Hermione, I have to tell you again, don't listen to Skeeter, she really isn't worth it."

"I love them too. I won't, I promise. Thank you for not believing anything she wrote."

"I would never listen to anything of that crap, baby!" he kissed her.

"I'm glad. Goodnight, Charlie. I love you."

"I love you too. Good night and sweet dreams!" he whispered into her ear, as she already was falling asleep.

* * *

"Do you want to get married someday...to me?" Charlie asked suddenly one evening.

"Yeah, of course I do, if you'll ask me. Do you want to get married someday…to me?"

"Of course! What about children?"

Hermione looked at Charlie curiously and then answered "I would like to have some. You?"

"When you are their mum, definitely. How many?"

"Why are you asking all these questions? But well, I think two or three…I don't want an only child – I was one and I hated it…but I don't want too many. What about you?"

"I just want to know. Two or three sounds perfect."

"Well, it's good that we could clear that up." Hermione laughed and Charlie grinned. He never thought he wanted a family, but with Hermione everything changed. He was truly happy.


	17. The End

**I wanted to thank you all sooooo much for reading my Story, for writing Reviews, following or favoriting...it was truly and amazing journey with you, regardless, I decided that Chapter 17 would be the last chapter of this Story, simply because I think, that the characters are now in a great place and I should leave it by that. I hope, you aren't angry...**

**I desperately want to write a Hermione/Remus ...and/or Hermone/Sirius... and/or Hermione/Bill fic, but still need to think of a freat idea :S**

**Okay, so thank you all again and hopefully enjoy the last chapter...!**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

"It's really happening, isn't it?!" Hermione said to her best friend. Luna smiled at her.

"Yes it really is, or else I would be wondering why you are wearing a bridal gown."

Hermione wore a beautiful strapless, floor-length crème-white dress, which was tight around her chest and waist and flowed down her legs. Her hair were pinned up, some loose curls framing her face. Her make-up was light and she glowed. Today she would marry Charlie Weasley, the love of her life and her boyfriend for two years now. They got engaged six months ago. Charlie proposed on their vacation to Italy after a romantic candlelight dinner. They would spent their honeymoon in Italy too. Their family was surprised, because they thought they would get engaged sooner, but they were more than happy, that Charlie finally asked her. The couple decided to have a small wedding with just family and a few good friends at the Burrow. Hermione was nervous, but excited at the same time. She was ready to take the next step in their relationship.

"You look great, Hermione. Charlie will lose his ability to speak, when he'll see you." Luna said and Hermione hugged and thanked her.

_Knock Knock_

"Come in!" both young woman called. It was a beaming Mister Weasley.

"Oh honey, you look beautiful!" he said to Hermione while hugging her.

"Thank you, Arthur." she said and kissed his cheek.

"Are you two ready? The ceremony is about to begin." Luna and Hermione nodded. Arthur took Hermione's hand and Luna was the first to exit the room, followed closely by Arthur and Hermione. Luna was Hermione's maid of honor and Arthur would lead her down the aisle. Today was her wedding day and she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Charlie's POV

Charlie paced up and down the arch, where he, in a few minutes, would marry the love of his life and girlfriend for two years now. He was nervous, but really happy. He loved her more than anything in the world and he was ready to be her husband.

"Calm down, brother!" Bill, who watched his brother for some time now, said laughing.

Charlie sighed "I'm just nervous. What if she changes her mind?"

"She won't change her mind, Charlie. Hermione loves you!" his best man told him and Charlie nodded, trying to convince himself.

"Take your place, Charlie. I think the ceremony is about to start!" Charlie did as he was told and watched the beginning of the aisle intently.

The soft music began to play and first, Luna came walking down and stopped beside the place, where Hermione was about to stand. Then, his breath left him. Hermione came into view with his father by her side. She looked absolutely stunning. Their eyes met and the whole world stopped for a moment. There was only her and him. The other's totally forgotten. How did he get so lucky? How did he manage to get such a beautiful, intelligent, loyal and brave woman? He didn't know, but he thanked whoever was responsible for it. She smiled at him and he grinned back. As she finally arrived at the arch, his dad kissed her cheek and placed her hand in his, he gave his shoulder a squeeze and took his seat beside his wife, who already silently cried into a handkerchief.

Charlie kissed Hermione's cheek and whispered "You look stunning, honey!" Hermione slightly blushed and answered "You don't look so bad yourself!" he winked at her and they turned to face Kingsley.

* * *

"Will you, Charles Weasley, take Hermione Jean Granger to your lawfully wedded wife? Then answer with I do." Kingsley said.

"I do!" Charlie answered.

"And will you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Charlies Weasley to your lawfully wedded husband? So answer with I do."

"I do." Hermione replied.

"It's my honor to now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." And so, Charlie did. The guests cheered, clapped and a few catcalls, probably from Fred and George, could be heard.

"I love you, Hermione!" he said to her, after they broke apart.

"I love you too, Charlie."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Weasley." Kingsley announced and they faced their family and friends with happy and content smiles.

* * *

**The End**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the "wedding"scene ...I really can't write wedding scenes, so I made it short^^ **


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